Carl Paratore

Tom O'Reilly: Carl, we’ve known each other for quite awhile. You are an intelligent, competent and capable person, and would be successful with any career you may have chosen. Why have you decided to dedicate your career to Internal Auditing?

Carl Paratore: Thank you for those kind words. For me graduating college with an accounting degree led me in public accounting. It seemed the right path in that I was reasonably confident I want to become a CPA. After several years in public accounting I pivoted into Internal Auditing and never looked back. What I enjoyed during my public accounting years I found also working in Internal Audit which was the variety of the clients, projects and experiences I found myself exposed to. You’re interacting with different people across the organization at all levels, so there’s a lot of variety in the work and that's always been appealing to me. In many regards it’s what’s kept me in the profession.

As I progressed in my career, I’ve also had the good fortune of advancing into different management and leadership roles. And through this advancement, I’ve continued to believe, even more so, in the value our profession has to offer.  Our ability to serve the organization in a collaborative fashion to both create and preserve enterprise value is something we are uniquely positioned to do.  

What resonated with me is the disciplined approach required to work through a problem area and identify ways to better manage/ improve the process. 

Tom O'Reilly: Looking back on  your career, were there one or more triggering events that significantly influenced you wanting to become a Chief Audit Executive? Tell us about that one “point in time” moment where you decided to put the effort in to become a Chief Audit Executive. 

Carl Paratore: Honestly, I don’t think there was just one moment that led me to want to become a Chief Audit Executive. 

My journey over the past 30 years has afforded me the opportunity to work with and observe some incredible Internal Audit leaders. Much like you described with Larry (Harrington) and much like Richard (Chambers) has written about the profession, these leaders saw Internal Audit as a strategic role within their company and a place where you can have a successful career not just a stint. 

Looking back at some of the legacy blueprints that make up our profession when I was rising through the ranks, Internal Audit was a place where you went to for a period of time to develop a certain skill set, and then after 2 - 3 years you moved back out into the organization. GE’s model under Jack Welch is probably one of the best examples of this. It was, and arguably still is, a fantastic way for an organization to develop talent and to help future leaders have a greater appreciation for managing risk.

But my experience at MetLife and the leaders I worked for demonstrated that you could have a long and meaningful career within Internal Audit if you so choose to do so. 

Being aware of both of these blueprints for success,

I certainly believe that the skill set I have is transferable. But the notion that Internal Audit was only a rotational gig was dispelled during my time at MetLife and I admire the many talented professionals that demonstrate Internal Audit can be a long term career option.

Tom O'Reilly: Reflecting back when you achieved the role of Chief Audit Executive, what were the one or two most important attributes, or things that you did in your career, that best positioned you to earn the highest Internal Audit leadership role? 

Carl Paratore: For me, I feel like I was able to develop an appreciation of the different needs, desires, and wants of the many stakeholders Internal Audit serves - executive management, operational management, the Board, industry regulators and so forth. Having such an appreciation motivated me to continue to learn and sharpen my business acumen for the areas I was responsible for to ensure I was able to offer meaningful insights to those stakeholders. That “sharpen the saw” mentality enabled a continuously learning approach that has served me well over my career.

Tom O'Reilly: Piggybacking on your comment about the importance of business acumen in Internal Audit, is that something that you can provide training opportunities for? And if so, what is the approach you use to build the business acumen of your Internal Audit team? 

Carl Paratore: One of the ways we aim to develop our business acumen is through the relationships we cultivate across the organization. Working across the enterprise my team and I seek to periodically connect with a host of leaders to understand what it is they are focusing on/worried about. We refer to this process simply as our Management Call Program.  

These conversations help us develop a better appreciation and understanding of the evolving business narratives that exist within the organization. In doing so provide us with a deeper level of understanding about the business unit that we  support. This understanding comes from asking thoughtful questions of the business leaders we interact with. 

These conversations bring to the forefront challenges the business is facing, capabilities gaps that may exist, and how they plan to bridge those gaps. 

In addition, there is other work that team members can take on themselves like attending and engaging in town hall meetings, staying up to date with information and articles published, listening to earnings calls, and just staying current with external information about industry trends and happenings.

Tom O'Reilly: Every Chief Audit Executive always has that one All-Star on their team, whether it's a senior, manager, or a direct report. Keeping in mind that person that worked on your team, what were the 1 or 2 things that separated that great internal auditor from the rest? 

Carl Paratore: Sure, two pop to mind for me. And they are two you may have heard a bunch of leaders also mention, but they both definitely ring true for me.

Let’s start with attitude. There’s generally a lot on our plate. At times we may be asked to provide perspectives about very technical areas for which we have not have deep domain expertise. Or we may find ourselves in a difficult position where we may have to shine a light on an area that is underperforming. Internal Audit can be no doubt challenging at times.  Maintaining the right attitude and staying connected with the purpose of your work helps many high performers work through these challenges. The right attitude and confidence in the skills you’ve acquired over time will support and guide you through those challenging moments.

Tom O'Reilly: And aptitude? 

Carl Paratore: Aptitude you’re able to see and hear in candidates' experiences. By time I meet with folks their competence in the role has been well vetted.  Along with understanding those competences, typically well defined on their resume, I like to get a sense of their intellectual curiosity. Their curiosity generally enables them to learn a bit faster, attempt to solve more problems, and be willing to take on new assignments. It may ways it can amplify their competencies.  That curiosity may even compel them to take on greater assignments and deeper business acumen and related skills. All good things!

Tom O'Reilly: When you are meeting a new business line leader or executive at your company for the first time, how do you describe Internal Audit to her, and the value that Internal Audit can provide her and her team? 

Carl Paratore: At a high level, I explain that our team provides assurance and advisory services. Further, my goal and intent of providing these services is to provide them with meaningful feedback in terms of how well the functions they oversee are operating today and how well I think they operate tomorrow. The future perspective keys in on how well we think internal controls have been established to sustain performance over time or more importantly where they may be lacking.

But taking a step back, I also attempt to provide context that Internal Audit is not something that happens to them or their teams, but rather something that happens with them.  Explaining that partnering approach helps us to key in and focus on where we can provide the most meaningful feedback on the areas of performance that impact the business and what matters the most to them. Of course, I have the autonomy to determine the ultimate scope of our team’s work, but obtaining this feedback upfront, and providing insight to their requested areas has proven to be effective over the years.

Tom O'Reilly: And how does this description differ when you are describing Internal Audit to your family? 

Carl Paratore: Ha! Good question. Still 30 years later, I still don’t think my family and friends have a full understanding of what I do as an Internal Auditor. In a few words though, I explain that I help my company manage the many uncertainties we face in delivering the promised value to the customers we serve. In doing so, trying to anticipate, through the audits we perform, where things could go wrong and further ensure we have the means (controls) in place to either prevent it, detect it, or monitor for it. 

If I’m getting blank stares I’ll usually  try to offer what I hope is a simple analogy. And given that most people drive cars and can easily agree that to get from point A to point B you need to make sure you have enough fuel. And the best mechanism to ensure you have sufficient fuel is to check and monitor your fuel gauge. Without it (a fuel gauge) the risk of running out of fuel is significantly higher and you’ll end up on the side of the road never arriving at your destination. Given that, hopefully simple analogy, I note our goal is to ensure the operational processes we oversee reach their “performance destinations”.  

Tom O'Reilly: As the last piece of advice for future Chief Audit Executives, from your 12 years experience leading an internal audit department, what is the hardest part of being a successful CAE? 

Carl Paratore: That's a good closing question. For me, as I mentioned earlier, there are a multitude of stakeholders we serve. Each having their own needs, wants, and desires from Internal Audit which can change over time. So one of the challenges is staying sufficiently connected with those stakeholders and keeping a pulse in terms of whether they feel those wants, needs, and desires are being met. The best way I've found is developing a relationship over time where they trust you enough to share that candidly with you. That’s an investment in your time and their time but one I found pays dividends.